Health problems associated with cigarette smoking, cigar smoking, pipe smoking and smokeless tobacco have been well publicized. In various scientific studies, cigarette smoking, cigar smoking, pipe smoking and use of smokeless tobacco have been causally linked to diseases such as lung, throat, mouth and other cancers as well as emphysema, smoker's cough and heart disease.
Various attempts have been made to address cigarette health problems through reformulation of cigarettes. For example, special blends of tobacco have been formulated for cigarettes with reduced levels of tar and nicotine. Unfortunately, each reduction of the tar and nicotine level has been accompanied by a corresponding reduced level of user satisfaction requiring unhealthy longer, stronger puffs to increase smoker's satisfaction. As such, sales of lowered tar and nicotine cigarettes, particularly those commercially classified as “ultra low tar and nicotine”, have not lived up to expectations. More recently, efforts have been made to altogether remove additives from cigarettes. While such “additive free” cigarettes may provide a purer tobacco smoke, it is unclear whether they provide any corresponding health benefits. In fact, in some cases, they have been shown to be stronger in tar and nicotine since they contain relatively more tobacco than non-additive containing cigarettes.